Un Monde Sans Danger
by elle127
Summary: Title subject to change. Two strange girls appear in Lyoko and then at Kadic Acadamy and they seem to know when XANA launches an attack without a full scan of Lyoko. Who are they and what do they want? UlrichXOC slight OddXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Elle:** _hey this is my first Code Lyoko fanfic. The idea actually came to me about four years ago and resurfaced itself when I found the show on youtube a few weeks ago. I haven't seen past season three beecasue my life got really busy at the time and then we got the DVR after the show ended. If anyone knows a good website where I can find full episodes since I can never find part one of anything on youtube please PM me or drop me a review. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, excpet Risa and Jen._

* * *

Chapter One

The desert sector spread out in front of them as they stood there, eyes scanning the barren horizon for some sort of movement. It had been quiet for a while but they knew that too much quiet was never a good thing. It was the calm before the storm.

There were two of them, both female and they stood unmoving. Both were about the same age, mid or late teens, and they were quite ordinary; or as ordinary as they could be in this world.

The first girl stood more towards the right. There was a military manner present in her stance. Her feet, covered in a pair of black ballet flats were slightly apart and her left hand, covered in a black hand guard rested firmly on the hilt of a black and red sword. She wore a red and black mini skirt over a pair of black Capri-length leggings. Her top was black with red slashes, long sleeved and came to just above her belly button. The shirt may have ended at her wrists but her hands were covered by a pair of black fingerless gloves plated with metal. Her shoulder length blonde hair was pulled into a bun.

The girl next to her seemed a bit more at ease with her surroundings but nevertheless was on full alert. Her outfit was slightly more intricate than the other girl's but not by much. She wore a simple black kimono that fell above her knees and was met by a pair of black high heeled boots. The obi keeping her outfit all in place was dark shade of emerald green and it almost blended in with the black kimono. The sleeves weren't as baggy as a regular kimono. The girl's long straight brown hair was pulled into a ponytail.

They remained quiet as did the atmosphere around them until a small but noticeable shudder shook the ground and became visible on the desert's flat surface. The blonde girl looked at the brunette girl.

"_Qu'est-ce que tu penses_?" she asked in French. "What do you think?"

"_Je ne sais pas_," the other girl responded. "I don't know"

The blonde girl squatted down as if she was going to leap like a frog from her spot. She didn't move except to press her palms firmly into the ground and to close her eyes.

The brunette watched on as the blonde stayed there for a few minutes. The mini earth quakes continued but neither girl showed any emotion toward them. After a few minutes the blonde girl stood back up and pointed northwest from where they were standing.

"The pulsations are leading me that way," she told her partner. The brunette studied the horizon but didn't move. The blonde looked at her and in the blink of an eye they vanished from their posts.

~*~*~*~

"Odd, Ulrich, Yumi," Jeremy Bellpois called into his headset. His voice carried over into the digital world where his three friends were fighting a few of XANA's monsters. "Careful, the radar's showing you've got two more monster's coming up ahead."

"That's great Jeremy," Odd said as he fired a few more laser arrows at the Block he was fighting. One of the arrows hit the eye shaped target and the monster exploded into several pieces. "Tell them to join the party!"

A Block was quickly closing in on Ulrich as he was taking strikes at another one. It steadied itself in order to fire a laser beam when a metal fan came out of nowhere and destroyed it.

"Thanks Yumi," Ulrich called but Yumi had been nowhere near Ulrich. She and Aelita were hiding behind a rock formation waiting for the coast to be clear so Aelita could deactivate the tower.

A sword stroke came out of nowhere and finished off the last two Blocks that Odd and Ulrich had been fighting. Both boys glanced at each other.

"Jeremy," Ulrich called out to the sky. "Any idea what the hell is going on?"

"Uh no," Jeremy said flatly. "All I can see on the monitor is that there are two more monsters hiding behind the rock formation opposite where Yumi and Aelita are taking shelter."

"Well then," Odd said cracking his knuckles. "I guess we have to go to them."

The two boys took off at run to the rock formation leaving Yumi and Aelita free to make a run for the tower. Odd and Ulrich reached the rock formation and studied it closely trying to see if they could see the monster hiding behind it. There wasn't much there that they could see but suddenly in a flash, Ulrich felt himself get knocked down and then pinned against the rocks with a sword at his neck and Odd was on the ground with a girl on top of his holding his hands behind his back.

"Odd, Ulrich, what's going on in there?" Jeremy asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Ulrich choked out.

"I should be asking you the same question," a female voice responded. "Who are you and what are you doing in Lyoko?"

"Odd Ulrich," Jeremy called. "Is everything ok in there? Answer me!"

"Where are Aelita and Yumi?" Ulrich yelled at his attacker. He was able to turned just enough to get a clear view of her face. Her outfit was similar to his except that it was red and she wore no headband. A further ways away another girl was holding Odd hostage. Ulrich couldn't answer Jeremy for fear that his captor would hear it. Instead he tried to get her to release him.

"Let me go," he yelled at her. She refused to let up and it looked like Odd wasn't having much luck either. Jeremy was yelling over the intercom system now but everything was staying quiet and still.

With a flash of metal Ulrich found himself on all fours but there was no longer a sword at his neck. Even though he couldn't be killed in the virtual world the mere thought of what had just happened scared him greatly. Odd was next to him on the ground and they looked up to see a pair of girls looming over them. Ulrich recognized the blonde girl as the one who had held him hostage for a few moments and the brunette as the one who had held down Odd.

"Odd, Ulrich, the monsters are right in front of you," Jeremy called to his friends.

"Uh Jeremy," Odd said. "They're not monsters they're girls."

"Risa," the brunette said to the blonde. "We need to get Aelita to the tower."

"Wait a minute," Odd interrupted the blonde girl, Risa, who was about to speak. "What do you mean you have to get Aelita to the tower? That's our job."

Risa and the brunette looked at each other.

"Your job," the brunette asked incredulously. "Are you crazy? Keeping Lyoko safe and keeping XANA in hibernation isn't a job that should be placed in the hands of four teenagers"

"Oh yeah," Odd said. "Like you're that much older!"

Jeremy listened to the girls speak in amazement. But what amazed and confused him more was that two new Lyoko profiles were filling out in front of his eyes. One was of a blond girl holding a sword and the other of a brunette with her hand on a fan. Along with the images came a small page of stats. Jeremy read them eagerly and then came to his friends' aid.

Meanwhile back in Lyoko Risa and the brunette kept staring at Odd and Ulrich. Yumi had successfully entered the tower and was deactivating it. Jeremy was running a few programs including setting up the return to the past.

"Well then," Odd said. "I guess this is goodbye then, I'm Odd Della Robia by the way."

"I wouldn't say goodbye just yet," Risa said slyly. "I have a feeling we'll meet again very soon"

"Return to the past now," Jeremy's voice rang through Lyoko and everything was engulfed in a white light.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

**Elle:** _I kinda decided that this story is going to be like a prequel to another Code Lyoko story I'm writing_

~*~*~*

Kadic Academy Cafeteria, breakfast time

Odd Della Robia was busy shoveling food into his mouth. His friends, Jeremy Belpois and Ulrich Stern paid little attention and focused on their own food. Aelita sat next to Jeremy and was ignoring Odd as well. Yumi Ishiyama, the last member of the group commuted to the school as opposed to living there full time like the boys and Aelita so she was absent from the table.

Jeremy watched as Ulrich pushed his food around his plate without actually eating anything. He had been acting stranger than usual ever since they had gotten back from Lyoko. Odd meanwhile had delved into a highly unbelievable story about being pinned down by a hot brunette chick as he called her. He had mentioned something about Ulrich being held down by a hot blonde girl but neither had expanded it past there. And everyone knew better than to ask.

"So," Odd managed to get out between mouthfuls of food. "Jeremy any idea who those two girls were in Lyoko?"

"No," Jeremy said flatly reaching into his messenger bag and pulling out his laptop. "I've been running diagnostics all night but aside from their names I don't have anything."

Ulrich looked up from his food but still didn't say anything. Odd shrugged and continued piling food back into his mouth. Jeremy abandoned eating and was typing away at a computer program on his laptop.

"So what were their names?" Odd threw in conversationally.

"I don't know which one was which but one was named Jen and the other was Arisa," Jeremy answered not looking up from his computer. "Their file cards loaded by themselves so I have no other information until I can get on the supercomputer and search around."

The cafeteria doors opened to reveal principle Dellmas and two girls never seen at Kadic before. Most of the students either tried to watch discreetly or blatantly stared. The brunette was asking questions and talking animatedly but the blonde looked rather uncomfortable being in the unanticipated spotlight.

"Can I sit here?" one minute she was with Principal Dellmas and her friend and the next she was standing behind an empty chair at the table. Jeremy looked as if he saw nothing but Ulrich's eyes narrowed. Odd meanwhile nearly jumped out of his seat eagerly to let the girl sit down.

"Sure beautiful," Odd said pulling out her chair. The girl looked around before she actually sat. Ulrich's eyes were still narrowed. The blonde girl sitting in front of him was the same girl that had held him down in Lyoko. A quick glance at her brunette friend told him all he needed to know. The same two girls who had just transferred to Kadic had been the same two girls that appeared out of nowhere on Lyoko.

A few minutes later the brunette had managed to shake off Principle Dellmas and walked over to her friend sitting down across the cafeteria. Without asking she drew up a chair and sat down next to the blonde girl.

"Hi," the brunette said brightly. "I'm Jen and this is Risa, we're new at Kadic this year."

"I'm Odd," said Odd. "Odd Della Robia, this here is Jeremy, Ulrich and Aelita."

Each person gave a small wave as their name was announced except for Ulrich. He and Risa were locked in a staring contest and neither of them looked like they wanted to give in.

"What's your problem?" Risa asked him.

"Don't act like you don't know," Ulrich snapped at her.

"Well excuse me for not being able to read minds," Risa quipped.

They fell silent but continued to stare at each other for quite some time. Jen became much less cheerful but still answered Odd's exuberant questions. Jeremy and Aelita didn't say anything either. Odd had gotten on to questioning Jen about their schedules and found out that they all had double chemistry with Mrs. Hertz first and second period.

The final bell rang and the students began to leave Odd went ahead with Jen to show her where the chemistry room was but Risa grabbed Ulrich by the collar and pulled him away from most of the students.

"If this is about what happened on Lyoko I'm sorry," she said in a low voice.

"Yeah well you didn't see me trying to devirtualize you," Ulrich said. Risa arched her eyebrows as if daring him to continue with that statement.

"Once again I'm sorry," she said firmly. "Take it or leave it"

She ran off to catch up with Jen and the others leaving Ulrich behind. He couldn't believe the nerve she had but he still sort of admired it. He picked up his things and continued to class.

Risa stared after him watching his retreating back. She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder resigning herself to a double period chemistry class. Risa began to walk out of the cafeteria when she stopped dead in the middle of the pathway. Her grip on her bag slackened and her eyes widened. A sick feeling swooped over her, like something bad was going to happen very soon. The sensation came as quickly as it had gone but the effects still lingered. Risa blinked twice and shook her head trying to clear it. Thankfully no one had been around to see her little episode but she hurried off to class anyway.

When she arrived at the proper classroom the bell was about to ring and Risa barely made it past the threshold when the bell actually rang. The room was set up like a typical chemistry lab with lab tables instead of desks. She looked around trying to find Jen but much to her displeasure Jen was sitting next to Odd at one table. She looked around in hopes of trying to find a vacant table but the only seat available was next to Ulrich Stern. Risa felt like hitting herself in the head with her notebook but nevertheless walked over and sat down, completely ignoring Ulrich as he did her.

As Mrs. Hertz explained various properties of different elements Risa found herself nodding off and took to doodling in her notebook to keep herself awake.

"Mr. Stern," Mrs. Hertz said suddenly "What are the properties of the halogen family?"

Ulrich blanked out. Mrs. Hertz turned her attention to Risa. "Ms. Uchimani, what about you?"

"The halogen family, column seventeen of the periodic table is made up of gases or elements that become gases easily," Risa explained. "They need only one electron to fill their valence shell and fluorine is the most electronegative element."

Mrs. Hertz nodded her approval at Risa's answer and continued with her lesson. Ulrich cast Risa a side glance and she turned her head slightly to stare back at him. She clicked her pen and scribbled something in her notebook before she tore out the page and slid it across the table to Ulrich.

**Risa:** _seriously, what the hell is your problem?_

Ulrich read her note and pulled out his own pen before scribbling down his response.

**Ulrich:** _why the hell did you attack me? And don't play dumb, I know you know what I'm talking about._

He folded the paper in half once and slid it back across the table to Risa. She picked it up and began to unfold it when she suddenly turned her head sideways to stare out the window. Ulrich turned to look at it as well but he couldn't figure out why she was so interested in it until a small fissure appeared at the bottom corner.

Without warning the fissure expanded and the entire window shattered inward showing Risa and Ulrich with glass. They weren't the only ones; all of the windows in the classroom had shattered, showering the other students with glass as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

"What's going on?" Yumi had caught up with the rest of the group after everyone was evacuated to the courtyard. According to Yumi, the windows in her classroom had shattered inwardly as well without any explanation.

"The last time something like this happened XANA almost caused the entire building to collapse," Odd said. "You don't think that he could be behind it again?"

"It's possible," mused Jeremy. "But with the entire building under lockdown I can't get to my computer to check it out."

Jen sat between Odd and Aelita with her blackberry out. Jeremy watched over her shoulder as did Yumi. She fiddled with the buttons until the small screen showed the map of Lyoko.

"How did you do that?" Jeremy asked sounding impressed. Jen didn't answer. She concentrated on the little black device in her hand which was confirming their suspicions as they watched it.

"I transferred all the data onto the blackberry," Jen said. "It's my brother's old one mind you so it's not the best. Risa's probably got the exact tower location all ready. She upgraded to the 4G network, I'm still stuck with the 3G."

"There's no way you can transfer us into Lyoko on you phone is there?" Odd asked jokingly. Jen smirked at him. By now Ulrich had come back over and placed himself between Yumi and Jeremy, looking over Jen's shoulder as her blackberry scanned Lyoko.

"Desert and Forrest sectors are all clear," Jen announced, "moving into the mountains"

"So once you find the tower then what?" Aelita asked.

"Then I'll send the coordinates to the supercomputer and use it to begin the transfer process," Jen replied.

Risa was missing from the group Ulrich noticed and he set out to find her. He didn't have to search long as Risa hadn't gone far. She was sitting in one of the lower branches in one of the trees surrounding the Kadic Academy. Ulrich stared up at her and his stomach gave a lurch. He hated heights and it amazed him that Risa was ten or twenty feet in the air and was unfazed. Like Jen Risa was absorbed in her blackberry and paid not attention that Ulrich was down there.

"Can I help you?" Risa said rather coolly once she realized he had been watching her for the past few minutes.

"You knew the window was going to break didn't you?" Ulrich asked. Risa slid her blackberry into the pocket of her denim skirt. She cast a look around to see if anyone was watching and then pulled her long blond hair into a low ponytail.

"You coming up or staying down there?" she called down to him. Ulrich looked up at the tree again and felt unsteady but nevertheless, wondering how the hell she did it began to climb up the tree. He didn't sit on the branch but wedged his foot firmly between two branches so that his head was level with her waist.

"Yeah, I did," she said in a low voice. "Odd is right XANA is behind this."

"How do you know?" Ulrich asked. Risa pulled her blackberry out of her pocket and typed a few keys. She handed it to Ulrich and he watched as the small device scanned the virtual world for signs of activity.

"Jen and I discovered Lyoko by a total accident," Risa explained. "Our friend Marcus found the supercomputer in the basement of our old school. He's big into computer animation and thought that it was part of the school's main hard drive but he accidently opened the portal to Lyoko and let XANA loose in England."

"You're English?" Ulrich asked. "Arisa Uchimani sounds Japanese doesn't it?"

"I'm half Japanese on my father's side, my mother was English, but that's not the point," Risa said slightly annoyed. "Jen logged the dates of the attacks and it wasn't long before the French connection was found. Basically all four of us were to transfer to Kadic and shut down the computer in England but XANA threw a monkey wrench into things."

Ulrich didn't say anything as he watched Risa fiddle with her blackberry a few more times before she sighed and slid it back into her pocket.

"You know XANA's behind this," Ulrich said. "Do you know what he's planning?"

"Odd said he tried to collapse the building last time the windows shattered but who's to say what this time?" Risa answered him. She remained silent for a few minutes before she added. "And I'm sorry for attacking you in Lyoko, really I am."

"Can we get down now?" Ulrich asked somewhat nervously. Being unsteady fifteen feet in the air was making him nervous.

"If you want," Risa answered. "I'm gonna stay up here though, ask Jen to text me if we get sent back inside."

"Can do," Ulrich said trying to lower himself out of the tree. He tried to go the same way he had come up but his foot slipped on one of the smoother braches. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact with the ground that was sure to come but it didn't. Someone was grabbing his wrist very tightly. Ulrich opened his eyes and saw Risa standing in the tree, both feet braced against rough branches and grabbing the trunk with her left hand. Her right hand was wrapped very tightly around his left but he could feel the sweat threatening to slide them apart.

"Well this kinda sucks," Risa mused almost playfully. Ulrich didn't respond as all of his energy was focused into not letting go of her hand.

-----

"Got it!" Jen announced happily waving her blackberry around. Jeremy, Yumi, Aelita and Odd leaned in closer to get a better look at the tiny screen. Jen stopped waving the blackberry around and held it in front of her so that they could all see. A small XANA eye was blinking in the bottom left corner and the right side of the screen was taken up by an image of an activated tower. In the upper left corner was a small square of an ice field, meaning the tower was in the ice sector of Lyoko.

"Wow," Jeremy said admirably. "That didn't take nearly as long as it does with my computer."

"What system are you using, Windows or a Mac?" Jen asked him. Now that she had what sector the tower was located in she was conducting another scan to find out where in the ice sector it was.

"I use a PC," Jeremy said.

"I see," Jen muttered once again cursing the slowness of her blackberry even with 3G networking.

"Hey, where did Ulrich and Risa go?" Yumi asked looking around and realizing that they weren't there. Odd looked up from Jen's phone and realized that they weren't there as well.

"Risa's probably sulking around somewhere being emo and whatnot," Jen said conversationally.

"Ulrich probably went to sulk around with her," Odd threw in. "Hey Jen, after we get this XANA mess sorted out you doing anything later?"

"Is this with the anticipation of a return to the past?" Jen asked still not looking up from her blackberry. Odd didn't answer this time.

Jen suddenly froze. Her blackberry slid out of her limp hands and fell to the ground with a dull clatter. The group moved away slightly, she looked like she was going to have a seizure. Then as suddenly as it started she shuddered, blinked and bent over to retrieve her fallen blackberry.

"Jen are you ok?" Odd asked sounding concerned. Jen didn't answer but became absorbed into her blackberry. Her light but determined demeanor was suddenly extinguished and she became fully determined because whatever had happened when she suddenly froze seemed to have triggered something.

"Jeremy," her voice was lower, older sounding. "What chemicals are stored in the MST building?"

"The what," Jeremy asked.

"The math/science/technology building," Jen said impatiently "Are there any noxious chemicals stored in there?"

"There's nothing that by itself is dangerous id improperly handled," Jeremy said smartly. Jen was ready to hit herself (or Jeremy for that matter) over the head with something.

"Well whatever XANA's planning he's using air pressure and noxious chemicals," Jen said still absorbed with her blackberry. "Oh and we need to get Ulrich and Risa out of that tree"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

A/N: I decided to make this like a prequel to an OC/Bleach Code Lyoko story I'm writing which follows _Hold Me Tight and Don't Let Go_. And I might write a sort of sequel to this which deals with Risa's return to Kadic after this year. I don't know why but all my OC stories seem to link together.

* * *

Nearly five minutes had elapsed and Risa was still holding onto Ulrich as he dangled in the air out of the tree. She debated her two options, one was to let Ulrich drop since he was only about seven feet from the ground and the other was to try and pull him back onto the lower branch and then try to climb down together. Judging by the petrified look on his face however letting him drop the last seven feet probably wasn't such a good idea.

"I'm going to try and pull you onto this branch here," she told him patting the thicker of two branches with her foot. "Are you ok with that?"

_I'm dangling out of a tree holding onto a girl who tried to kill me in Lyoko coupled with a fear of heights do you think I'm ok? _Ulrich thought bitterly. But since she had apologized twice for her actions in Lyoko and she sounded like she meant it Ulrich thought better and decided to put his trust in the crazy girl who liked to sit in trees.

"Sure," he answered somewhat nervously. He saw her nod and then with a great heave she pulled him onto the lower branch and he clung onto it for dear life. Risa slid down the trunk to sit down next to him. He looked at her, as awkward as it was that way he didn't have to look down. He had to admit though, her slender frame was misleading.

They heard footsteps and saw Jen and the others running over.

"Risa!" Jen called. She slowed as she approached the tree and without missing a beat climbed into it so that she was level with Risa and Ulrich. "The tower's in the ice section and XANA wants to use noxious chemicals inside the MST building."

"So we need to get to Lyoko and deactivate the tower," Risa said. She placed her hands on the branch and jumped out of the tree, landing catlike on the ground. She stood up and looked up. "You guys coming?"

"Give me a minute," Jen said. "I'm almost fourteen, I'm old"

"You're almost fourteen," Risa scoffed. "Try pushing one-seventy four and then come crying to me"

Ulrich still held onto the tree branch listening to Risa and Jen banter about their ages. Did Risa just say she was one hundred and seventy-four? Something seemed very weird about the two of them.

"Alright, alright," Jen said, starting to walk back up the path. "Let's go to Lyoko. Ulrich are coming?"

"You guys go," Ulrich said trying to keep his voice steady. He had to figure out a way to get out of the tree without falling. Risa looked up at him.

"Do you need help?" Risa asked as soon as Jen was out of earshot. Ulrich blushed as he tried to climb out of the tree without falling.

"No, I'm fine," Ulrich insisted. He reached the last few feet and jumped down, landing with a soft thump. "Um, we need to get to the factory"

"Right," Risa said running off in the direction Jen had gone. Ulrich followed her even though she probably had no idea where she was going. He was right because Risa ran right over the manhole cover in the woods.

"Wait, Risa," Ulrich called. She stopped and turned.

"What, the factory's that way," Risa said pointing forward.

"It's a shortcut," Ulrich said lifting the cover off the manhole. Risa walked over and stared at him in awe. Ulrich slid through the small hole and Risa followed picking up the manhole cover and dropping it back into place concealing the location.

"I didn't know there was a short cut in the woods," Risa said. "Jen and I wandered around Paris forever trying to find the factory and the supercomputer."

Ulrich dropped down into the sewer where the rest of the group was waiting. Risa followed. Jen was there as well and she was holding her nose. One whiff of the air told Risa why. They were in the sewer it smelled like one. Risa coughed and her eyes watered.

"It smells better when you're moving," Odd said picking up one of three skateboards. He mounted it and took off.

"I'm sorry that we don't have any extra," Jeremy said unfolding his scooter. "I'd offer you my scooter but I can't run very fast."

"That's fine," Jen said. She had the collar of her black t-shirt hoisted over her nose. "I can run"

Jeremy nodded and followed Odd on his scooter. Aelita picked up the last scooter and followed Jeremy leaving Risa and Jen with Ulrich and Yumi.

Yumi nodded and grabbed her board, taking off after the others. Jen broke off at a run following them. Risa shot a quick glance at Ulrich before she took off at a run after Jen leaving Ulrich behind to bring up the rear.

By the time they had reached the other end Risa and Jen were sucking oxygen. If they were going to stay at Kadic and be part of the Lyoko warriors then a skateboard would be a good investment. They followed Jeremy and the others up the ladder and onto a bridge that connected the factory with the supercomputer to the mainland.

The group ran across the bridge and into the factory where there were five thick cables dangling from the ceiling. Jeremy, Yumi, Odd and Ulrich each grabbed one and slid down to the factory's main level. Risa, Jen and Aelita took the cables as soon as it was clear and slid down.

They followed the others into the freight elevator and Odd pressed the button since he was closest. The elevator slid down into the depths of the factory and when it stopped and opened into the room with the giant computer they all got out. Jeremy went straight to the giant computer.

"Jen's blackberry was right," Jeremy said as soon as he found the tower's location. "XANA's planning something using the ammonia and bleach in the science room!"

"They don't exactly play nice together," Jen said. "Had we not found out about it we'd be in the MST building where XANA's launching the attack. But if he's planning on mixing ammonia and bleach why did the windows break?"

"An abnormal shift in air pressure to extremely high-pitched electromagnetic wavelengths," Risa said. "There are a million and one things that can cause glass to shatter."

"Yeah," Jeremy said. "But let's keep our focus here. Exposure to an ammonia bleach solution can have lethal results."

"So that pretty much translates into 'get your ass into Lyoko now'" Jen said.

"Somebody has to go to the school and warn everyone," Yumi put in. "We can't risk someone dying because we weren't quick enough."

"I'll go," said Ulrich.

"I'll go with you," Risa said. They looked at each other and then left. Jeremy turned to the others.

"Get in the scanners"

The rest of the group didn't need telling twice. They got back in the elevator as it came back up and got in it dropping down a level into the scanner room. Jen looked at Odd, Yumi and Aelita.

"You three go first," she said hanging back by the elevator as the others took a step toward the scanners. "I'll go last."

"I'll go with you," Odd said also hanging back. Yumi and Aelita stepped into the scanners.

"Ok guys," said Jeremy over the intercom. "You know the drill"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: so here's to not updating! another chapter! yay!

Chapter five

"Mixing ammonia and bleach seems pretty low-scale for XANA," Ulrich said as he helped Risa out of the manhole. When she landed she picked up the cover and slid it over the hole.

"But it's still really dangerous" Risa said. "The fumes from fifty CCs of each need a whole room cleared."

They ran forward out of the woods toward the school. When they got there, it was the transition between periods so students were milling around on the grounds. Risa took no notice and continued running but slowed her pace down to a walk as she got closer. A girl walked past her at a brisk pace.

Risa turned and watched as the girl walked up to Ulrich who had just appeared out of the woods.

"Hello Ulrich dear," her shrill voice said.

"Hello Sissi," Ulrich said dully walking past the girl trying to catch up with Risa. The girl, Sissi, turned around trying to keep pace with Ulrich. Ulrich stopped when he caught up Risa.

"Who is this?" Sissi purred but Risa caught the jealous edge in her voice. Ulrich looked from one girl to the other blushing faintly. He wanted nothing more than to disappear from this spot and get away from this awkward situation.

"I'm Arisa," Risa said coolly extending her hand for Sissi to shake. Sissi flicked a strand of hair off of her shoulder but didn't shake her hand. Risa simply let her hand drop.

"Come on Risa," Ulrich said walking forward. Risa cast Sissi a look over her shoulder before turning to walk with Ulrich.

"Who was that," Risa asked as the two of them broke into a run.

"That was Sissi," Ulrich said bitterly. "Every boy fawns over her but she's only ever flirted with me. It's really annoying."

"My boyfriend would have a fit if he caught someone flirting with me," Risa said conversationally as they reached the building. Ulrich opened the door and held it open for Risa. She smiled as he walked in.

"You have a boyfriend," Ulrich asked as they ran past the storeroom. Risa tore past a corner as if avoiding his question.

"We need to tell a teacher," Risa said changing the subject. "We can tell them that there was an accident in the storeroom or something. Come on let's go."

Ulrich thought she had a decent plan. It was believable and they didn't have to say anything about XANA at all.

Behind them, a black ectoplasmic substance started oozing out of the light fixtures. The light it had come out of flicked for a moment but went back to normal. Ulrich stopped to see what it was but Risa kept going. He didn't see the ghost so Ulrich figured it was nothing.

Risa went to the staff room and knocked on the door. Mrs. Hertz, their Science teacher.

"Ms. Uchimani, Mr. Stern," she greeted the two students. "Where's the fire?" she added seeing the looks on their faces.

"There was an accident in the storeroom," Risa said. "Something knocked over causing the ammonia and bleach to mix."

"I'll take care of it then," Mrs. Hertz said walking out of the room. "You two are best to leave the building. I'll warn the others to evacuate as well."

"Yes ma'am," Ulrich said as he and Risa turned to leave. The black XANA ghost slid out of the fire alarm and slithered behind them. It grabbed Risa's ankle and she fell forward.

"What the hell—" Risa started

"Run for it," Ulrich yelled grabbing her arm and pulling her along. "That thing catches one of us it's all over."

"What the hell is it?!" Risa screamed slipping behind Ulrich.

"It's a XANA ghost," Ulrich tried to explain while running. He kicked the door open and leapt off the front steps. Risa appeared next to him.

"A XANA ghost?" she said standing up. "Like a departed soul ghost bound to the living world by a strong emotion?"

"I have no idea," Ulrich said truthfully. "But the ghost just means this is more serious than we thought."

Risa drew a deep breath but started coughing. A few seconds later Ulrich started coughing. Within a few minutes the air around them had become thinner and thinner making it harder and harder to breathe.

"I think—that this—might be—XANA's—true motive," Risa panted. She felt like she had just run a mile and a half at full sprint.

~*~*~*~*~*

"Ok guys," said Jeremy's disembodied voice. "The tower's three hundred and fifty meters due south of your location"

Odd, Yumi, Aelita and Jen were in the ice sector of Lyoko. Two vehicles, the overboard and the overwing appeared in front of them. Odd jumped on the overboard and Yumi and Aelita jumped on the overwing.

"You can hop on with me if you want," Odd said patting the back end of his overboard. Jen smiled and stepped on wrapping her arms around Odd's waist. Odd took off suddenly and Jen almost fell off the overboard.

"You better hold on tight princess," Odd said accelerating quickly. Yumi and Aelita drew even.

"You guys have got some monsters coming up," Jeremy said. Sure enough three crabs were marching in sync. Just behind them was the tower.

"I see them," Yumi said. "There are three of them"

"One for each of us!" Odd exclaimed happily. Without warning he shot the overboard over to the crabs. He leapt off the board so that he was on top of the crab and fired a laser arrow at it. The crab exploded and Odd landed catlike on the ground.

Jen steered the overboard to the second crab. It handled like a surfboard. Jen pulled out her fan and opened with a surge of adrenaline. She was known as a risk taker and this move was no exception. Like Odd she jumped off the overboard, but instead of jumping straight off jumped into a back flip. While she was upside down in the air flung her fan straight at the crab. She kicked her legs back forcing her hips over her head and landed gracefully like a gymnast on the ice, catching her fan as it came back to her.

Odd just looked at her dumbfounded.

"You want it?" Jen asked cocking her head back at the third crab. Yumi and Aelita had sped past it and now it was chasing them. Odd and Jen looked at each other having a silent 'after you' fight.

"What's up Ulrich?" Jeremy asked. Ulrich had just called him on the supercomputer.

"Jeremy," Ulrich gasped. He sounded like he was having trouble breathing. "XANA's done—something to—the air."

"What's he done to the air?" Jeremy asked sounding concerned. Risa was doubled over literally sucking oxygen. Ulrich was next to her trying to tell Jeremy to hurry up over in Lyoko.

"That doesn't exactly sound good," Jen said in Lyoko. She and Odd had heard the entire conversation in Lyoko.

"I'll take the last crab," Odd said running toward the last monster. "You go help Yumi and Aelita."

"Copy that," Jen said running forward.

"XANA's been playing with the air pressure," Jeremy said sounding alarmed. "He's made it so the air thinner. Like at the top of Mount Everest."

"I think that's cue for you to get in the tower," Jen said catching up to Yumi and Aelita as Odd was devirtualized.

-------

Risa took a deep breath but the cold thin air stung her lungs as she sucked it in. Ulrich was doubled over next to her also having a hard time breathing. All around them students and staff her collapsing due to the lack of oxygen.

Each breath took more effort than the last and Risa was just waiting for the moment when it all stopped. She fell sideways knocking Ulrich over but he was just as weak as she was he merely collapsed under her weight.

AELITA

CODE: L-Y-O-K-O

"RETURN TO THE PAST NOW!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Elle**: _I don't know how they do sports in France. But I remembered that this takes place when Ulrich, Odd, Jen… are thirteen and still in middle school. In middle school soccer and volleyball are in two different seasons and in high school they're both fall sports. _

Odd Della Robia was busy shoveling food into his mouth. His friends, Jeremy Belpois and Ulrich Stern paid little attention and focused on their own food. Aelita sat next to Jeremy and was ignoring Odd as well. Yumi Ishiyama, the last member of the group commuted to the school as opposed to living there full time like the boys and Aelita so she was absent from the table.

"So I think we figured out who those two girls were," Odd said conversationally with a mouthful of food. At that moment principal Dellmas walked into the cafeteria with Risa and Jen behind him. He pointed out a few things and left them to find a table. Jen spotted the gang's table right away and slid over. Risa wandered over and sat down as well.

"Hey guys," Jen said brightly ignoring the stares from the others in the cafeteria. "What's up?"

"Hey Jen," Odd said happily pulling a chair over and motioning for Jen to sit. "I see you guys got Principal Dellmas's Grand Tour of the school, again"

"Oh yeah," Risa mused stroking her straight blonde hair. "That was just a little bit strange."

"Ready to go learn about halogens you guys?" Jeremy asked excitedly.

"Ready to go eat some Brussels sprouts?" Odd said with a laugh. Jeremy turned a faint shade of pink.

~*~*~*~*~

After repeating the day without a XANA attack Risa and Jen were in their dorm room which had been decked out to their liking. Jen was lying on her bed on her stomach, reading a softball catalogue with her iPod on full blast. Risa on the other hand was throwing things into a bag. She was wearing a pair of black and white soccer shorts and a white tank top.

"Where are you going?" Jen asked pulling the earbuds out of her ears. Linkin Park's 'Figure.09' could be heard pounding out of them. Risa pulled a pair of long white socks over a pair of shin guards.

"Soccer practice," Risa said grabbing a hairbrush and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Volleyball starts in November; I'm not lethargic like some people."

"Oh shut up," Jen snapped as Risa slid her feet into a pair of slide sandals and left the dorm.

A few minutes later Risa walked onto the dirt pitch where a team of boys were playing. The sign she had read simply said soccer practice, without a mention of whether it was boys or girls. Judging by the look of it, it was boys' practice.

"Do you stalk me or something?" Risa looked up; Ulrich was walking over with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"Are you sure I'm the stalker?" she said lacing up one of her cleats. "You seem pretty good at showing up wherever I seem to be."

Ulrich put his bag down next to hers and sat down so that the two bags were between them.

"You're gonna get chewed out out there," Ulrich said lacing up his cleats. "Some of those guys can get pretty mean."

"I think I can handle myself," Risa said pulling a pink soccer ball from her bag. She gave it a squeeze to make sure it was properly inflated. "Where do you play?"

"Kadic," Ulrich said pulling his standard black and white soccer ball from his bag.

"I mean what position," Risa said rolling the ball up onto her foot. She gave it a little flip, trapped it with her chest let it bounce to the ground.

"Center forward," Ulrich said. A whistle blew somewhere and the rest of the boys were huddled around Jim, the PE teacher who also coached soccer. Risa and Ulrich jogged over.

"Ok boys," Jim said obviously not seeing Risa among the boys. "Start off with a lap around the pitch and stretch out."

The boys lined up in two lines and Risa and Ulrich ended up next to each other.

"Oh hell no," one of the boys said. "What is she doing here?"

"Right now I'm running," Risa said as the lines started a brisk jog around the pitch to warm up. "But I'm here to play soccer"

The boys (and Risa) finished their lap and gathered in a circle to stretch before they started exercising.

"Ok boys," Jim said walking over after they had finished. "As you can see, we have a young lady here today."

"She can't play can she?" said the same boy who had asked Risa what she was doing here. He seemed hell bent on not having a girl on the team.

"Since we don't have a girls' soccer team," Jim started as if he was quoting the rule book. "There's nothing to say she can't play on the guys team. Now that that's settled, Scarlatti, you're in goal, Uchimani, Stern you two on offense. Uh, Ainsworth, Planter, Scarpetti defense, set yourselves up let's go."

"Ainsworth is starting to get on my nerves," Risa muttered to Ulrich when they had positioned themselves a few feet out of the eighteen yard box. She pushed her side bangs out of her face as Jim blew his whistle again.

"You know what you're doing?" Ulrich asked as he passed Risa the ball. She didn't answer but she dribbled the ball a little ways before Planter, the defender, came forward to try and take the ball away. Risa cut the ball slightly left with her left foot and side stepped around the boy. When she had firmer footing and a better angle she passed the ball back to Ulrich.

Her pass was slightly high so he trapped the ball with his knee, and brought it back to his feet. Like Risa Ulrich side stepped around Scarpetti the other defender and crossed the ball back to Risa so she could take a shot at the goal.

Now Risa was shoulder to shoulder with Ainsworth. He was about six inches taller than she was and about fifty pounds heavier. Ulrich's pass was high enough to head and that's exactly what the offensive and defensive sides wanted to do.

Risa and Ainsworth both jumped but Risa jumped slightly sideways jamming her shoulder into Ainsworth's. They struggled for a few seconds to get the ball before Risa beat Ainsworth to it and headed it into the goal, past the goalie's hands and into the net.

"You're seriously asking me that question," Risa said in a response to Ulrich's question earlier. Ainsworth just stood there looking bitter at that fact that a girl just beat him to a header.

~*~*~*~

Odd knocked on Jen's door. He stood back a few feet rocking back and forth on his heels waiting for her to open the door. Jen appeared after a few minutes.

"Hey Odd," she said leaning against the doorframe. Her dark brown hair was falling out of its ponytail. "What's up?"

"Do you wanna go hang out somewhere?" Odd asked. "I mean if you're not busy."

"Give me a minute," Jen said closing the door in Odd's face. She picked her brush off the desk and pulled her hair back into a proper ponytail. She threw a black t-shirt over her tank top and pulled on a pair of black converse low tops on her feet. She grabbed her phone and her dorm key and met Odd outside the dorm.

"What do you want to do?" she asked closing the door behind her. She and Odd started walking up to the foyer discussing their options. Odd had suggested they sneak off campus and see a movie but there was nothing good playing.

The two of them kept about a foot between them, close enough to be together but far enough not to suggest anything. Soon they had left the dormitory and were wandering around the grounds trying to find something to do when Odd spotted a sign.

"You wanna try out for cheerleading?" he suggested not being serious. Jen stopped and read the sign.

"Let's go get changed," she said grabbing Odd's wrist and dragging him back up to the dorms.

A few minutes later Jen and Odd met each other outside the dorm hall and walked down to the track where a few girls in tank tops and spandex were sitting and stretching. The boys' soccer team could be seen practicing on the field.

"What are you doing here?" Sissi Dellmas had come over and she was staring at Odd with a look of deep disgust. Odd was wearing his gym outfit of a bright red shirt and orange shorts. Sissi clearly thought Odd was here to be totally obnoxious. Jen walked over wearing nothing more than a pair of short black spandex and a green tank-top and placed herself next to Odd.

"This is cheerleading tryouts right?" Jen asked Sissi who was wearing a pair of white cheer shorts and a pink t-shirt. "I'm Jen, Odd's my lift partner"

Sissi looked like she had been slapped in the face. She flicked a stand of black hair out of her face and called the girls into order.

"This is cheerleading tryouts," Sissi addressed them all. "If any of you make me look bad in front of Ulrich Stern then you will all pay"

Sissi made the girls line up on the infield side of the track facing the bleachers. She called up a girl named Sarah and asked her to perform a simple combination.

Sarah faced the girls looking slightly embarrassed. She clapped her hands twice.

"Ready? Ok," she brought her hands into a V "A cheerleader cheers…"

She ran through Sissi's cheer and preformed a cartwheel. Sissi didn't look all to impressed.

"You," she barked at Jen. Jen stepped forward and faced the other girls. She knew what she had to do.

"I have a nice little cheer for you Sissi," Jen said sweetly getting into her starting position. "You wouldn't mind if I used it would you?"

"Just don't make me look bad," Sissi sneered.

"So 'Hey Ulrich you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey Ulrich' is out then?" Jen sneered back. Odd started laughing and Jen smirked. Sissi glared at Jen but the latter threw her long brunette ponytail behind her and walked slightly past the line of girls.

Jen lined herself up on one of the lines of the track, placing her left foot on the line and pointing her right toe at it. She threw her right arm in the air signaling the start of her run. She took two steps forward and leaned forward into a cartwheel, which she followed with a back handspring. She landed on both feet and kicked her left leg straight up in the air so that it was parallel with her body. Jen jumped into a straddle split and followed with another back handspring.

"I'm not that good with cheers," Jen said ending her run. "Sorry, hope that will suffice."

Sissi stared but quickly turned it into a glare while the other girls clapped and Odd let out a 'whoo-hoo'.


End file.
